


This Treacherous Journey

by KillItWithFire99



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Reading the house of hades, camp Jupiter reads
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-15 10:02:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1300897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillItWithFire99/pseuds/KillItWithFire99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One question is going through all the Romans' minds: What had become of their new praetor—a certain Percy Jackson? Nemesis, feeling slightly guilty about her cookie's consequences, decides to 'restore balance' by giving Camp Jupiter their answers. What will the Romans think of where Percy and Annabeth are now journeying?  Join the camp as they read the Percy and Annabeth chapters of The House of Hades.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Restoring Balance

> If there was one thing that Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano did not do, it was show weakness. She would not have that happening on her watch.
> 
> This obviously included letting her colleagues in the senate meeting know how much she worried for the seven on the giant warship that had gotten away, much to the discontent of a certain augur.
> 
> The Mark of Athena- no demigod ever came back from that. She wouldn't fool herself. She knew exactly what that quest involved, and the probability that Percy would come back without his girlfriend.
> 
> Just as Octavian was about to begin another lecture over the 'traitorous Greeks', the room filled with a flash worthy of a god.
> 
> Surely enough, out of the source stepped a woman, and yes, she was sure a woman, but with the face of Blackbeard the pirate.
> 
> "Oh, Reyna dear, you ruined my disguise! Why couldn't you want revenge on, oh, I don't know, a female?"
> 
> Reyna rushed to bow. "Lady Invidia," she stated respectfully. Gasps filled the hall as all the other centurions bowed.
> 
> "Oh, please call me Nemesis, child," the goddess begged while flickering to another image. "You have no idea how hard it is to stay focused on one form." She closed her eyes and furiously rubbed her temples, her face scrunched up in pain.
> 
> "Anyway, back to the reason I came, I recently cost many people a great deal when I repaid a favor. To restore balance, I will let you know what is going on with your friends."
> 
> Nemesis held out her hand as a book materialized into it. She handed it into the waiting hands of the Praetor, who examined it carefully.
> 
> On the front was a picture of a giant set of doors held down by chains, and two rough-looking teens hobbling toward them. As the boy looked back at her, Reyna could just make out the unique sea green of his eyes. The title read, THE HOUSE OF HADES.
> 
> "Now, before you know the present, you must first know the past." Nemesis waved her hand and conjured up a wavering image.
> 
> The senate meeting watched as Annabeth trapped Arachne in her own web and the Italian car plunged her into Tartarus. Despite her being a Greek, they all cheered.
> 
> Reyna smiled as Percy strode in and congratulated the blonde. The smile was wiped off her face, as well as everyone else's, when Annabeth was pulled out from underneath herself.
> 
> They watched in horror as Annabeth followed the string's path, with Percy being tugged along behind her, over the edge of the pit.
> 
> "Percy, let me go, you can't pull me up!" But Reyna saw the look of determination on his face and immediately knew what his answer would be.
> 
> "Never," Percy said. "The other side, Nico. We'll see you there. Understand?" Her heart sunk. He was giving up.
> 
> "Lead them there! Promise me!" She didn't miss the pained look on Nico's usually emotionless face.
> 
> The Venus girls crooned at his next words, despite the circumstances. "We're staying together, you're not getting away from me. Never again."
> 
> Annabeth's response was simply, "As long as we're together," and Percy let go.
> 
> The Romans watched as their Praetor and his girlfriend plunged into the abyss.
> 
> A stunned silence marked the end of the scene. Reyna , upon realizing the goddess had left sometime while they were occupied, asked, "Who would like to read first?"


	2. Annabeth I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One question is going through all the Romans' minds: What had become of their new praetor—a certain Percy Jackson? Nemesis, feeling slightly guilty about her cookie's consequences, decides to 'restore balance' by giving Camp Jupiter their answers. What will the Romans think of where Percy and Annabeth are now journeying? Join the camp as they read the Percy and Annabeth chapters of The House of Hades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that the last few bits from the book aren't bolded. The editor likes to be weird.

Gwen volunteered to read, and Reyna handed over the book. She opened it and read, "Annabeth I".

**Nine days. As she fell, Annabeth thought about Hesoid, the old Greek poet who'd speculated it would take nine days to fall from earth to Tartarus.**

"I sure hope not," said Dakota. He'd only known the couple a while, but he definitely didn't wish for them to splat like a pancake.

**She hoped Hesoid was wrong. She'd lost track of how long they had been falling—hours? A day? It felt like an eternity. They'd been holding hands ever since they dropped into the chasm. Now Percy pulled her close, hugging her tight as they tumbled through absolute darkness.**

"Awww!" Gwen squealed. Most disturbingly, in his Kool-Aid drunken state, Dakota squealed too, which attracted some really weird looks from the other centurions.

**Wind whistled in Annabeth's ears. The air grew hotter and damper, as if they were plummeting into the throat of a massive dragon. Her recently broken ankle throbbed, though she couldn't tell if it was still wrapped in spiderwebs.**

Normally the Romans had no sympathy, but they had seen that ankle and they winced— it did not look like it felt good.

**That cursed monster Arachne. Despite having been trapped in her own webbing, smashed by a car, and plunged into Tartarus, the spider lady had gotten her revenge. Somehow her silk had entangled Annabeth's leg and dragged her over the side of the pit, with Percy in tow.**

Reyna choked back a sob. It all seemed so hopeless. . .

**Annabeth couldn't imagine that Arachne was still alive, somewhere below them in the darkness. She didn't want to meet that monster again once they reached the bottom.**

"No, she'd love to see Arachne again!" Every eye turned to Octavian. All the people near him reached out and slapped him. He turned to Reyna for help, but she just shrugged and gestured for Gwen to keep reading.

**On the bright side, assuming there was a bottom, Annabeth and Percy would probably be flattened on impact, so giant spiders were the least of their worries.**

"Well aren't we all such sunshine and rainbows today?"

**She wrapped her arms around Percy and tried not to sob. She'd never expected her life to be easy. Most demigods died young at the hands of terrible monsters.**

"No, they rarely ever die", Octavian argued. Reyna shook her head.

"Camp Half-Blood isn't a safe haven like Camp Jupiter," Reyna corrected. "The Greeks are constantly out fighting monsters and defending the world. Percy and Annabeth are some of the oldest in their camp."

The camp was shocked. So that was why Percy was so excited to see all the families here!

**That was the way it had been since ancient times. The Greeks invented tragedy. They knew the greatest heroes didn't get happy endings.**

"They of all people deserve a happy ending," Gwen said. She knew she didn't really know them, but from what she had heard, they had a pretty tough life.

**Still, this wasn't fair. She'd gone through so much to retrieve that statue of Athena. Just when she'd succeeded, when things had been looking up and she'd been reunited with Percy, they had plunged to their deaths. Even the gods couldn't devise a fate so twisted.**

_No, they couldn't_ , everyone thought.

**But Gaea wasn't like other gods. The Earth Mother was older, more vicious, more bloodthirsty. Annabeth could imagine her laughing as they fell into the depths.**

"Yes, I find it extremely humorous that you are being eaten by my abyss of a husband," Dakota slurred. At least he could find a reason to smile while the couple was most likely falling to their death.

**Annabeth pressed her lips to Percy's ear. "I love you." She wasn't sure he could hear her—but if they died, she wanted those to be her last words.**

This brought tears to Reyna's eyes. They had such a strong relationship—the kind that Reyna always dreamed of. They would not hesitate to sacrifice the world for the other.

**She tried desperately to think of a plan to save them. She was a daughter of Athena. She'd proven herself in the tunnels under Rome, beaten a whole series of challenges with only her wits. But she couldn't think of any way to reverse or even slow their fall.**

_Come on, Annabeth_ , Reyna thought, _think._

**Neither of them had the power to fly—not like Jason, who could control the wind, or Frank, who could turn into a winged animal. If they reached the bottom at terminal velocity. . . well, she knew enough science to know it would be _terminal._**

"Well, it doesn't take a daughter of Athena to know that," Octavian sassed. The whole council glared at him.

**She was seriously wondering whether they could fashion a parachute out of their shirts—that's how desperate she was**

"Desperate to get Percy's shirt off?" Dakota giggled and fell out of his chair as Gwen slapped him.

**—when something about their surroundings changed. The darkness took on a gray-red tinge. She realized she could see Percy's hair as she hugged him. The whistling in her ears turned into more of a roar. The air became intolerably hot, permeated with a smell like rotten eggs.**

"Uh oh," someone said.

"They're nearing the bottom," said another.

"No duh!" Octavian was getting fed up with these idiotic people. Couldn't they see this was probably just a scam? It would be just like those Graecus to do something like this!

**Suddenly, the chute they'd been falling through opened into a vast cavern. Maybe half a mile below them, Annabeth could see the bottom. For a moment she was too stunned to think properly.**

"If Annabeth can't think, then they're in trouble," Bobby confessed, "because Percy is not likely to help in that department."

The stench of sulfur made it hard to concentrate, but she focused on the ground directly below them and saw a ribbon of glittering black liquid—a river.

"Oh no, please don't make him–," Reyna left her plea hanging.

"Percy!" she yelled in his ear. "Water!" She gestured frantically.

"–control the water," she finished defeatedly.

"Why not," asked Gwen, "if he can use it to save them?"

Reyna answered, "Rivers in the underworld are not regular water, and may not be in Poseidon's domain."

Percy's face was hard to read in the dim red light. He looked shell-shocked and terrified,

Terrified? They had seen a lot of expressions on their Praetor's face, but terrified had not been one of them. But then again, they were falling into Tartarus. If anyone had a good reason to be terrified, it was Percy or Annabeth.

—but he nodded as if he understood. Percy could control water—assuming that was water below them.

"Probably not," Gwen said.

He might be able to cushion their fall somehow. Of course Annabeth had heard horrible stories about rivers of the Underworld. They could take away your memories, or burn your body and soul to ashes. But she decided not to think about that.

"Yes, let's not think about the probability of imminent death," said Dakota.

This was their only chance. The river hurtled toward them. At the last second, Percy yelled defiantly. The water erupted in a massive geyser and swallowed them whole.

Silence. Percy just controlled an Underworld river? Last they knew, that was, like, impossible!

Reyna was speechless. But, she had to know whether they were safe or not. "I will read next."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own any PJO material. Words in bold are from the House of Hades and belong to Rick Riordan's genius mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any Percy Jackson material. Bold print is from the House of Hades and belongs solely to Rick Riordan.


End file.
